Carina Crenshaw’s Luminous, Expressive Close-Ups

Based in Hamburg, Germany, Carina Crenshaw creates delicate paintings that experiment with color to convey different lighting conditions and moods. Crenshaw’s brushstrokes reminiscent are at times reminiscent of 20th-century abstract painting: blocks of color are built up next to one another to create works that appear flat despite their luminous effect. Crenshaw’s works zero in on subjects’ faces; they don powerful expressions that seem to place them in rich narrative contexts that the viewer must piece together based on the limited information. Take a look at some of Carina Crenshaw’s work below, images courtesy of the artist.